Thursday, June 25, 2015

Several months ago, Laura Davis featured me on her blog when I began working on Seventh Dimension - The Castle, Book 3. Now that The Castle is finished and with the final editor, I decided to repost it here as it shares a lot of my writing journey for the Seventh Dimension Series. Enjoy.

LAURA DAVIS: For those who aren’t familiar with your work,
can you tell us a little about yourself.

LORILYN ROBERTS: My early
childhood would make good fodder for a Hollywood movie. My father walked out on
my mother when I was a baby and I did not meet him again until I was thirty. Any
writing talent I received from God came through him. My mother is the least
talented person I have ever met—but her business mind is uncanny.

I suppose you could say I’m the epitome
of a frustrated writer without the frustration. I believe God has given me an
ordinary beginning, one common to most writers, so that His grace will be
revealed despite my imperfections. We are all geniuses in disguise waiting for
God’s perfection to be manifested. In the meantime, I believe the “becoming” is
more important than the end. In the becoming, we learn how to work out our
salvation, our struggles, and our writing dreams.

LAURA
DAVIS: How long have you been writing?

LORILYN
ROBERTS:I’ve been writing since I could
hold a pencil. I would write stories imitating cursive writing and ask my
mother to read them. She would gently say, “Would you like to read that to me?”
And I would read her my illegible handwriting. I’ve kept one of the first stories
I wrote in a box underneath my bed. Every few years, I’ll pull it out and read
it. Then I’ll dubiously wonder if my writing has improved after forty years of
court reporting, captioning, publishing seven books, and receiving my Masters
in Creative Writing.

I love writing more than reading, cooking, or anything else—except
perhaps lying on the beach with a good book or scuba diving. Sometimes I
wonder if God has put me in a position where my writing hours are limited so I must
balance my life with the mundaneness of everyday living. Otherwise, I might become
a hermit and never leave my writing corner. I love losing myself in stories,
the creative process of building an imaginative world, and then figuring out
how to share that with others.

Writing for me is magical. Sometimes we forget that God is
magnificently creative. He longs for us to embrace that magical part of ourselves.
Jesus said, “If you don’t believe in me, believe in the works I do.” I see that
as a call to use our talents to glorify God and to reveal to readers God’s
creativity through our words.

I feel closest to God when I am writing. Sometimes I will
hear God say to me, “That’s boring. You can do better than that.” I remind
myself, don’t compromise for the sake of expediency. Give the reader every last
ounce of creativity I have so God will know it’s my best—for His glory, His honor,
His kingdom.

LAURA DAVIS: What is the
hardest thing about writing for you?

LORILYN
ROBERTS: The
hardest thing about writing is finding the time. I’m a single parent, although
my youngest is almost grown, but everyday living takes up a sizable chunk of
time. Writing in the middle of the night works best. The only thing that might
disturb me is a cockroach looking for a free meal, and as long as I can spray
him with a half a can of poison and make sure his wiggly legs stop moving, I
can go back to finishing my scene.

Otherwise, my mind will be on roaches and
other disturbing thoughts that shouldn’t be in my book. I had hoped our three
cats and dog from the humane society who spend ninety percent of their time
sleeping could earn their keeps by disposing of them for me. Occasionally, I’ll
find an abandoned roach leg on the floor and wonder who the murderer was. When
you live in Florida, you adjust or move to colder climates.

LAURA
DAVIS:Can you tell us about your new book?

LORILYN ROBERTS: I am writing a YA fantasy series called The Seventh Dimension. The second book
in the series The King was published
in August. The third book The Castle
will be published when I finish it. I’m on chapter three, but the outline is
completed.

The Seventh Dimension is a spiritual reality. The
premise behind the series is that everyone who has accepted Yeshu into their
hearts has traveled to first century Israel and met Yeshua at the cross.

In The Seventh
Dimension, which is a parallel spiritual universe, we must make choices
that affect where we will spend eternity. When we meet Yeshua, we must surrender
our past so that He can redeem it. Every soul has been bought and paid for by Yeshua.
However, Satan doesn’t know the outcome, so to win a soul to his camp is a
prize possession. God can’t give us His gift unless we accept it. Because Satan
is a deceiver—he has nothing to lose. The battle is far deeper and more complex
than we can imagine. Most of the battle is fought on a spiritual level, so in The Seventh Dimension, we see the
spiritual side of the war—with demons, angels, and Yeshua.

The Seventh Dimension embraces the mystery of God and
is a reality outside of time not limited by human understanding. Time exists
for our benefit and makes it convenient to trace the events of history and give
us a sense of reference. The Seventh
Dimension embraces the past, the present, and the future. I hope as I write,
God gives me insights into this spiritual reality. Hopefully the concept will
come alive in the reader’s heart and touch those who have yet to embrace our Savior.

I remind myself, give my Audience of One my book and He will
make it a hundred times more powerful than I could do in my limited human
ability. I hope I have been able to achieve that in The Seventh Dimension Series.

LAURA
DAVIS: What inspired you to write this book?

LORILYN ROBERTS: The first book in The Seventh Dimension Series is actually a children’s picture book, The Donkey and the King. I was in
Israel in 1991 at the beginning of the Gulf War and this book was inspired from
that experience. Later, when I was working on my Masters in Creative Writing, I
wanted to continue with the theme in a YA series addressing different issues.

So I wrote the first book The Door that in many ways is a reflection of my own life. In The Door, a young girl, Shale Snyder, is
bullied and rejected by significant others. A dog finds Shale and coaxes her to
follow her to a different world. There she meets the King and many other people
from her past, only this time it’s in the spiritual world of The Seventh Dimension.

In the second book, The
King, the protagonist, Daniel Sperling, is a 17-year-old Israeli boy who
was introduced in The Door. Forced to
enter a treatment center following a mental breakdown, he is angry with God and
has abandoned his Jewish faith. When a devastating earthquake rocks Israel, he
is transported to TheSeventh Dimension. There he is
confronted with conflicting “truths” in a parallel universe that challenges everything
he has ever believed. His dreams of medical school are threatened when romantic
interests touch his heart and a strange demon tempts him to make poor choices.

The Seventh Dimension Series shows readers that the path to
God for each believer is unique and fascinating. God’s plan may take years to
understand because our earthly understanding is limited. I would encourage sojourners
to embrace the hard things and ask God to redeem them. All of my books have
that element of redemption.

You never know what blessings may come if you look for the
“good” everywhere. My hope is that Jewish skeptics will read my book and ask questions,
more specifically, could Jesus be the long-awaited Messiah?

As an aside. I recently learned that I have Jewish blood in
me through DNA testing with 23 And Me. I am thankful to know that my
love for the Jewishness of the Bible is not quirky or imagined. God used my Jewish
friends to draw me to Him. Experiencing God’s love firsthand and reading the
“proof texts” in the Old Testament were too compelling to ignore.

LAURA DAVIS: What books do you enjoy reading?

LORILYN ROBERTS: I
enjoy reading books that are creative, well written, and unpredictable. After I
finish a good story, I want to ponder its meaning. I want a book to reveal a
nugget of truth I have never seen. I want to read books that will encourage me
to write and stir my own creative juices, leaving me to admire the gift of
writing in others. I want a book that resonates with spiritual truth and becomes
a part of who I am.

Books that have done this for me include the Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, Crime and Punishment by Feodor
Dostoyevsky, and JRR Tolkien’s Lord of
the Rings.

I believe readers want books written with a Christian
worldview even if they don’t know it. God’s image is imprinted on human hearts
that creates a deep longing for Him. Too many have replaced that longing with
counterfeits because they haven’t discovered the truth.

I hope readers will read TheSeventh Dimension Series and share my
books with their friends and family. I am also always looking for reviewers. If
you are interested, please contact me at authorLorilynRoberts@gmail.com

Haunted by a recurring dream of his missing father in a mysterious castle, 17-year-old Daniel is captured by the Romans and finds asylum in the Temple. There he discovers a scroll that reveals his future concerning a wager between good and evil. But the stakes are raised when he witnesses the trial and crucifixion of Yeshua. The convergence of time with supernatural events creates a suspenseful ending and leads to the fourth and final book in the Seventh Dimension Series, The City.

*~*~*~*

Lorilyn
Roberts has won multiple awards for the Seventh Dimension Series, including the
latest for The King: 2014 USA Best Book Awards Finalist and a 2014 Gold Winner
for Faith-Based YA Fiction in the Literary Classics Awards.

Lorilyn graduated Magna Cum
Laude from the University of Alabama in 1991. Her studies included spending two
weeks in Israel at the start of the Gulf War and touring England, Australia,
New Zealand, and several countries in Europe. She later attended the Institute
of Children's Literature and earned her Master of Arts in Creative Writing from
Perelandra College.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Recently, I was getting the pump fixed on my
pool and I met a gentleman, Karl Ambrose, at the store. While there, he gave me
some disturbing information—that Florida is on the verge of opening up the
state to bear hunts.

I can't think of many things more upsetting than
hunting species for pure sport. In my opinion, it's barbaric, inhumane, and cruel. We don't eat bears, and worse yet, much of the
scientific information about their numbers has not been validated.

Oftentimes these special interest groups push their agendas through the legal channels before the general public is even aware of what
happened.

My goal here is to alert the public via social
media—see Karl's email below. Be sure to click on the link to let your
voice be heard. Do you really want to allow bear hunts in Florida? A pubic that
does nothing has spoken. The deadline looms. Please act now!

*~*~*~*

From Karl Ambrose

"Florida Bears may soon be hunted in their homes to supposedly reduced human/bear interactions.

"If bears are hunted in the only place that is their designated home, it actually may increase their likelihood of increasing bear/human interactions.

"A source of problem behavior seems to be overlooked. Most of the forests are surrounded by private hunt clubs. The feeders that the hunters leave for deer, some of which may be illegal, are a likely source of emboldening bear that no one is mentioning. A proposed hunt would also leave abandoned cubs.

"Why should the Florida Wildlife Commission propose a hunt that is likely to increase the number of human/bear interactions and not address the feeders that are actually luring the bears to the problem areas?

"It is my impression, from talking with FWC, that they have no intention of doing their job. It seems that their real goal is to pander to deer hunters instead of getting to the source of the problem behavior.

"Anyone who wishes to chime in on this subject can go to Myfwc.com and express your opinion. The final meeting to approve the hunt is being held in Sarasota, Fl, on June 24."

Monday, June 1, 2015

"The King" is simply put, one of the best, most creative books I have ever read in any genre of literature. I read from cover to cover in one sitting..that is how spectacular and all encompassing this book is!! I simply could not put it down!

There are so many elements of the story that I loved that I am not sure where to begin! The character development was extraordinary! I felt like I knew both Shale and Daniel and I saw myself in their struggles and their achievements! I LOVED the animals as well and how intertwined they became throughout the story.

I also was so impressed by the vivid imagery that Roberts created! I could see everything so clearly as I read through the story which just added another layer of excellence and depth to the tale. While I loved all of the aforementioned aspects of "The King" , what was most important to me was the development of their individual spiritual journeys. This is what makes this so much more than a great story...there is something that everyone will find that they can relate to in their own relationship with God. I am sure I am not the only one who would liked to have met Jesus 2000 years ago...the mastery and God given talent that has been written in these pages has allowed me to do that....I absolutely loved this book and I hope that everyone who reads it will be blessed by the story as I have been! This is not just a story ....it's an adventure and experience I won't soon forget!

*~*~*~*

The next book in the Seventh Dimension Series will be published on July 24. Here is the back cover blurb: The Seventh Dimension
Award-Winning Series continues in The
Castle. Daniel is haunted by a recurring dream of his missing father in a
mysterious castle. When he is captured by the Romans and finds asylum in the
Temple, he discovers a sealed scroll that reveals his future concerning a wager
between good and evil. But the stakes are raised when the 17-year-old witnesses
the trial and crucifixion of Yeshua. The convergence of time with supernatural
events creates a suspenseful ending and the prelude to the fourth and final
book in the Seventh Dimension Series, The
City.

Contact Lorilyn Roberts

Author Lorilyn Roberts

Seventh Dimension - The Door

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